Part 28 (1/2)
There was a gauntlet of vampires and ghouls lining the hall we strode through. The weight of their stares was heavy, but I looked straight ahead and forced my legs not to tremble. Never show fear. That would be the same as ringing a dinner bell.
A set of impressively carved, giant double doors were pulled open by two attending vampires. Spade motioned for me to go inside. I squared my shoulders and straightened my spine, gliding into the dangerous unknown as casually as if I were Cinderella to the ball.
Thunderdome, was my first thought. Gothic, luxurious Thunderdome. An amphitheater of sumptuous chairs, couches, and pedestals circled an open bare center that could have been an arena. The room was set up stadium style, with each level overlooking the ominous square platform. Since my path took me in a straight line to center stage, that's where I went.
Murmurs broke out at the sight of me, so many it was hard to translate. Apparently I was the main attraction tonight. How flattering. With sheer willpower I refused to search the dozens and dozens of faces for the one I loved. Bones was here. Even in the maelstrom of whirling energies, I could feel him. h.e.l.l, I could smell him after downing all that blood last night.
Ian was seated front and center like royalty. The lowest balcony was one level up from the platform, so I tilted my head toward him and feigned surprise.
”So you're the one who's behind all this? Serves me right for not twisting that knife before. Come on down and I'll fix my oversight.”
Ian had dressed up as well, wearing a vintage flowing s.h.i.+rt with ruffles of antique silk. I guessed it was late seventeen hundreds, from the style. Its pearly color nearly matched his skin, and his chestnut hair was tastefully arranged. Turquoise eyes gleamed at me with antic.i.p.ation.
”Your prissy pants suit didn't begin to do you justice, Catherine. You are simply dazzling.”
”Once and for all, and it's good that so many people will hear this so I don't have to repeat it-my name is Cat.” Since they'd all seen me, concealing my work name hardly seemed important. ”Now, I dragged my a.s.s up here for a reason, and it wasn't to hear that you liked my dress. Where are my men? And what do you want? It must be a real doozy for you to track me down and blackmail me.”
Ian had a superior grin when he answered, comfortable in his presumed control. ”You can thank your old friend for helping me find you, Cat. I have a feeling you'll remember him. Crispin, say h.e.l.lo to your former protegee.”
”Hallo, luv. Long time no taste,” a voice drifted down to me.
I hid a grin and turned in his direction.
Bones cleaned up better than Ian, in my prejudiced opinion, and I couldn 't help the tug of a smile when I saw his hair.
Sometime since I'd last seen him, he'd colored it the same s.h.i.+ning platinum it had been when we first met. It was newly cut as well, hugging his head in closely cropped curls. His s.h.i.+rt was a full -bodied crimson, contemporary by contrast with Ian's, and his skin glowed like cream-covered diamonds against the vivid fabric. It was time for me to look away. Fast. Before I drooled.
”Bones, what an unexpected revulsion,” I said cleanly. ”Jeez, you're not dead yet? I'd hoped to see the last of you years ago. Still having that premature e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n problem?”
Ian guffawed in amus.e.m.e.nt. So did the rest of his section. They were segregated by lineage, with the youngest members higher up in the nosebleed seats. Bones sat symbolically on the lower edge of Ian's group, and a snort of laughter accompanied his response.
”Perhaps if your snoring hadn't been so b.l.o.o.d.y loud in the interims, I would have been able to concentrate better.”
Touche. I turned my back to him. ”All right, Ian. Enough of this c.r.a.p. I'm all decked out in my pretty dress and it's clearly a party. What's the occasion?”
Ian went right for the melodramatic. ”Far and wide I've told everyone that the avenging human called the Red Reaper is actually a vampire disguised behind a pounding heart and warm flesh. There isn 't another known half-breed in the world. Put simply, I want you with me, Cat, as part of my people. Since I didn't reckon on you being agreeable to the thought after our last meeting, I've taken four of your men to ensure that you're more...open-minded when we discuss it now.”
Ian didn't know I'd already gotten back three out of those four, and had six of his own men to boot. He probably just thought Francois and the others were running late.
”Uh huh,” I said cynically. ”I'm guessing this whole being 'part of your people' means I'd have to spend a lot of time with you.”
Ian smiled with more than a hint of wickedness. ”You would require supervising at first, after all.”
”And if I refuse, I suppose you'll kill my men?”
He shrugged. ”Really, poppet, would it require me killing all of them before you'd see what I'm offering isn't so repugnant?
I think it would only require killing one or two, at most.”
You cold b.a.s.t.a.r.d, I thought, eyeing Ian. The fact that he was being practical, not maniacal, told me a lot about him. Ian didn't seem like he'd particularly enjoy killing a couple of my men, but he'd do it. Bones had some of that same coldness, I knew.
And so did I, if I was honest.
”You told people about me,” I said abruptly, changing my tactics. ”But I bet they had trouble believing you. Want me to give them a demonstration of what I can do? I mean, you've got all these guests, but so far, they haven't seen anything exciting yet.”
An interested look came over Ian's face. Bones had said Ian liked a flashy show. It didn't appear that he was wrong.
”What are you offering for a demonstration, my lovely Red Reaper?”
”Bring out your strongest fighter. I'll beat him or her, and I'll do it with only what I've got on me now.”
I spread my hands and twirled to show that I didn't have any weapons, but of course Ian would know that I 'd been searched. It wasn't my fault no one had taken a good look at my shoes.
”What do you want if you win?” Ian asked.
”One of my men back unharmed. And I get to pick who.”
Ian looked me over for a long moment. I gave him my most innocent expression. ”Agreed,” he said at last.
”Good,” I said instantly. ”I'll take Noah.”
s.h.i.+t, if I could win back Noah myself, that was a big load off my mind. Wouldn't Ian be surprised later when he found out he'd bartered his only hostage back to me? Bones chose that moment to stand up. ”Ian, before this circus begins, I have an issue to settle with you. Frankly I would have skipped this event altogether if you hadn't commanded me to appear. That is the rub, my sire. I wish to be under no one's authority but my own, and it is time. Release me from your line.”
Ian looked like he'd been punched in the gut before he s.h.i.+elded his expression.
”We will speak on this later, Crispin, when there aren't so many distractions,” he said, struggling to stall without appearing weak.
Bones encompa.s.sed the mult.i.tudes with a wave of his hand. ”There is no better time than now, with all present to observe tradition. I want nothing more when I leave than what is mine by right-the vampires I've created, their possessions, and all my human property. I've waited long enough for this, Ian, and I'm not waiting any longer.”
There was an uncompromising edge to his last sentence, and everyone there heard it.
Ian's tone changed from coaxing to curtness on the spot. ”And if I refuse? Are you threatening to challenge me to win your freedom?”
”Yes,” Bones replied bluntly. ”But why the need? Our paths go back to our humanity, and we shouldn't part with one of us destroyed by stubbornness. Release me by your favor and not by a fight, for that is my wish.”
I couldn't imagine having a centuries -old history with someone like Bones had with Ian, and one that had literally transcended death to boot. Ian didn't seem like anything special to me, but for Bones to try so hard not to have to kill him, there must be more to him than met the eye. I knew loyalty over Ian changing Bones into a vampire would only go so far. Maybe Ian was a bit like Don. Ruthless and manipulating when it came to what he wanted, but at the core, not an evil person. Otherwise Bones wouldn't bother asking for his freedom, when he could challenge Ian to a duel and kill him for it. Bones could beat Ian if it came to that, and he knew it. The question was, did Ian?
Ian weighed his decision silently for a minute. There was a hushed expectancy. I tensed when he took a knife from his pants and made his way through the guests to Bones.
He looked at the knife, at Bones, and then flipped it until the blade was facing inward instead of pointing out.
”Go then, and be Master of your own line, subject to none but yourself and the laws which govern all of Cain's children. I release you.”
Then he handed the knife to Bones, who accepted it respectfully.
”You all bear witness,” Bones called out, to various audible acknowledgments.